


A Good Thing

by Once_More_With_Feeling



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Getting back to my roots, I write these things because I want to be Thomas' bestie, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9580001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Once_More_With_Feeling/pseuds/Once_More_With_Feeling
Summary: A moment between Thomas and Miss Baxter, during Season 6, episode 9. Told from her point of view, then his.





	

Miss Baxter just happened to pass the servants’ hall as everyone finished their tea; she had just come from the laundry with a dress Lady Grantham wished to wear that night when she heard it.

 

“Are you really going?” Mrs. Patmore asked.

 

“Even good things come to an end,” Thomas asserted, sounding very much like his old self. Phyllis continued to wonder every day if he really was, though.

 

“Well, I don’t know if you’re a good or a bad thing, Mr. Barrow,” the cook answered. “But we’ve all been together a long time.”

 

On that moving note, Thomas excused himself to check the dining room.

 

She knew he had come such a long way in the last three months, and it was possible Mrs. Patmore’s words wouldn’t bother him, not like they would have before. But she couldn’t just let him walk away from a remark like that, without being certain he was really alright. Not anymore. She stopped him at the bottom of the stairs, her Ladyship’s dress draped over her arm.

 

“Thomas?” she began.

 

He turned from the bottom stair to face her, and stepped back down to the floor. It struck her for the thousandth time then how tall he was, this grown man she had come to think of as her little brother.

 

“Yes?” he said, a slight smile on his lips, probably at her use of his first name while they were working.

 

No one was around. She took a step toward him, and reached up to place her hand on his cheek.

 

“You are a good thing,” she whispered, and gave him a firm smile. “Such a good thing to me.”

 

His smile broadened. He placed his hand over hers, and her hand curled inside of his. He brought her fingers to his lips, placed a kiss on one of her knuckles, and whispered back, “I know.”

 

The light she had once been so sure of was back in his eyes. He wasn’t hiding anything from her, not now. Relief washed over her as he released her hand, turned around, and walked up the stairs.

 

***

 

“Are you really going?” Mrs. Patmore asked.

 

“Even good things come to an end,” Thomas asserted, feeling very much like his old, cheeky self. 

 

“Well, I don’t know if you’re a good or a bad thing, Mr. Barrow,” the cook answered. “But we’ve all been together a long time.”

 

Thomas only rolled his eyes slightly, and excused himself to check the dining room. As he left the servants’ hall, he marveled for a second or two how easy it had become—to let go remarks like that, now that he knew he was loved. Now that he had been rescued, and so knew he was worth rescuing.

 

“Thomas?” came a familiar voice from behind him.

 

He turned from the bottom stair to face her, and stepped back down to the floor, so he wouldn’t tower over her so much. It struck him for the thousandth time then, how petite she was, this incredibly strong woman he had come to think of as his elder sister.

 

“Yes?” he said, a slight smile on his lips. The sight of her always made him smile now, and he saw no reason to hide that any longer.

 

No one was around. She took a step toward him, and reached up to place her hand on his cheek.

  
  
“You are a good thing,” she whispered, and gave him a firm smile. “Such a good thing to me.”

 

So she had heard, and now she was worried for him, again. He wished she wouldn’t worry, and not just because he really was feeling so much better. He also felt responsible for soothing her concern. If he had to spend the rest of his life convincing her, though, he would do it. She deserved to be taken care of now, after all she had done. And all he had to do to convince her was tell the truth.

 

His smile broadened. He placed his hand over hers, and he felt her hand curl inside of his. He brought her fingers to his lips, placed a kiss on one of her knuckles, and whispered back, “I know.”

 

She looked at him in that familiar way she had, and he felt safe all over again, knowing he didn’t have to hide from her. Relief washed over him as he released her hand, turned around, and walked up the stairs.


End file.
